When We Were Kids
by DogStar15
Summary: A Secret Santa gift: Add a simple walk through the mall, a very soft bear, and a flashback from Sam, and what do you get? A partially fluffy Sam and Quinn one-shot!


Attics were lonely, Sam decided to no one in particular. He was actually fairly close to saying this aloud, but seeing as he was the only around, in a mall with other people he didn't know and could come across him at any time, he refrained. Being labeled as a "geek" or "nerd" generally didn't bother him, but today he and Quinn were shopping. He always wanted to make her proud of him, wanted her to be proud of the fact they were dating. Sam wanted to remain presentable and cool in the eyes of the world, aside from the accepting Glee Club.

Yeah, maybe it was a little childish, certainly petty, but when you were the new kid, you did what it took to be accepted and to be liked. No one was perfect, after all.

"There you are," Quinn's voice drifted down the hallway, colliding with the happy Christmas tunes over the loudspeakers. Sam shook out of his reverie turned to see his girlfriend smile lightly. She looked beautiful, even more so than she did at school, since she wasn't in her Cheerios uniform. Instead, her casual jeans and soft sweater accented her eyes, and in general, she looked more approachable. Sam liked that. He liked when Quinn let herself relax instead of acting as the all-powerful cheerleader queen.

"Hi," Sam greeted with a bright smile, and offered out his hand for her to take. When she did, he squeezed it affectionately.

"Sam," she scolded, pulling away from him slightly. He frowned, and apologized quickly, kissing her temple to make it better, although maybe stopping with all of the public displays of affection would be the best idea of all. Too much was trashy, but at the same time, too little was inconsiderate and cold. Stupid, confusing rules.

Looking from the displays to Quinn, Same noticed she had a bag. Several, actually, which made him very curious. Quinn caught him glancing at her shopping bags, and a smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah," she shook her head playfully. "It's not Christmas yet; you'll get your present, then."

"Mean," Sam pouted.

"Let's go in here," Quinn suggested, distracting Sam from the presents that currently dangled from her arm. Distractions had always worked with Finn, but then again, his attention span wasn't much better than Brittany's. And that was saying something.

"What's in here?" The two entered the store - its name had something to do with an attic or something. The name didn't seem all that important, considering Quinn appeared extremely familiar with its interior layout. She knew right where to go; the section she dragged Sam to was filled with toys. Suddenly, he had no more objections, and happily starting racing the toy trucks along their shelves. He heard Quinn sigh quietly, as though she were lost in thought.

Sam put the truck down, and straightened up. "Everything all right?"

She nodded quickly. "Yeah. Just daydreaming, I guess."

He cocked his head to the side, many, many ideas and possibilities floating around in his mind. "About what?" Sam prompted, again curious. Either his curiosity was insatiable, or Quinn just liked teasing him. It was probably a combination of both, he decided.

Quinn shrugged. "Nothing much. About being a kid again. Reliving some memories. Thinking ahead to memories that will be made." She shrugged again, and proceeded to pick up a stuffed bear, smiling at its softness. The bear looked like he would make an excellent companion to a lonely little boy or girl, and Sam was tempted to buy it, just to donate it. Or give it to Quinn, since she seemed to like it so much.

However, Sam had already bought his girlfriend a present, and decided against it, since the gift he did buy for her was a bit on the expensive side, and he was sure it would be well-received. He could buy the bear for Brittany. She would probably get more use out of it than Quinn would.

"That's a lot to think about," he said conversationally, wondering if she would continue or just leave it there.

"Yes and no."

"Do you have a favorite memory?" Sam continued, still unsure whether or not Quinn felt like talking, or simply being together. He liked talking, especially since this would be their first Christmas together. As a couple, as friends, as anything, really, since they hadn't known each other since this year. "I have one," he smiled widely, thinking back to the year all of his family went over to his grandparents' house. All of his cousins, his mom, his dad...

"Go on," Quinn encouraged lightly, smiling back at him. Maybe he wasn't the only one in a curious state.

"Oh." Sam flushed quickly, sorry for having been caught with his head in the clouds. "Well, I was about seven, I guess, and my whole family went over to my grandparents' house. It wasn't a lot of people, but enough to make the house alive and there was practically no space for anyone to stand much less sit and eat with each other." He paused, trying to properly recall the other details. "It snowed that year, I remember - I remember because we did a - I think it's called a White Elephant Exchange? - anyway, everyone brought one gift, and we all picked names out of a hat, giving the present we brought to that one person.

"I picked the name of one of my great-uncles. Hardly knew him, but in my box was a baseball and glove, and it turns out, Great-Uncle Robert was a huge, huge fan of baseball. Worked at the Red Sox's home stadium for years as a vendor. We wound up having a great conversation - I was really into baseball when I was younger, believe it or not. Then, apparently, my older cousin, Angela picked my name. She smiled and wished me 'Merry Christmas,' and said she was sorry for such a lousy gift. When I opened it, I saw it was a snow globe of Rockefeller Center during the winter. I don't know why she thought it was such a bad gift, because I had never been to New York before, and it seemed fascinating. So...I'm not sure why it's my favorite memory, but it is. It was just one of those moments, you know?" Sam asked, finally ending his tale. Quinn was staring at him intently, still holding the bear, stroking its ears much like a dog.

Finally, she answered, "It sounds lovely, Sam." She nodded, more sure of herself. "It does." Quinn set the bear down, and walked over to him, slipping her arm around his, and leaned against him.

Her reply was a bit of a let-down for Sam, but he shrugged it off. He hadn't been expecting a more excited answer than that, mostly because there wasn't much you really could say to that. Quinn had been sincere and happy for him, and there wasn't much more you could ask for than that.

Releasing him, Quinn strolled over to the clothes section, twirling the rack this way and that. "I hope my kids have a Christmas like that, one year," she said in a small voice that if anyone else had heard it who knew what truly went on last year would know she was thinking of Beth.

"You will, Quinn." Sam said firmly, completely sure of this fact. "You're going to make a wonderful mom."

"Oh, I hope so," she said with a bitter laugh.

"You will." Sam repeated, and impulsively left her side to go find that bear and to buy it for her. He could feel her eyes on him, and when he reappeared with the obnoxiously large bag that contained the bear, Sam grinned and held out his arm for her.

"What's that?" Quinn asked.

"Something for you." He replied simply, and lead them out of the store to the food court, where he proceeded to buy a snack for the two of them, and a bottle of water to share. Once they were both situated, Sam pulled out the bear from the bag, and sat it on the seat next to Quinn. "Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to give someone a really good present, like the baseball had turned out to be so great for my uncle Robert."

Surprised at the gift, she gathered it into her hands and smiled.

"So...did I?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Yes." Quinn replied, her voice partially muffled by the bear. Lifting her head up, she reached out for Sam's hand. "Thank you."

Nodding, Sam took Quinn's hand and experimentally squeezed it. This time, she said nothing - although he could swear Quinn's cheeks looked a little redder, and her smile was a little wider.


End file.
